Stem Cells Progenitor Labs

This piece has two stories in one-the first about combinatorial chemistry and high throughput screening, and the second about technology for tracking stem cell differentiation. In the second, the British biotech firm “Plasticell,” located in the London Bioscience Innovation Center, uses an automated process for growing stem cells on microscopic beads that have fluorescent tags which identify the culture media through which the cells have passed.  By comparing changes in the cells and the number of tags, researchers can infer which cultures promoted the kind of differentiation that took place. Understanding how stem cells differentiate into mature cells, of course, is the “holy grail” of regenerative medicine.     MORE

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Image Credit:  Krishna Creations-Fotolia.com and Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News